Edible insects with Girl Meets Bug

The World Bank estimates that our planet is home to almost seven billion humans. In order to put something on the global dinner table each night, we farm approximately 50 billion chickens, 1.3 billion cattle and almost one billion pigs each year. Another dish, eaten as a delicacy in parts of Africa, Asia and Australasia, is quite literally overlooked by much of the Western world: bugs.

In order to provide some culinary creepy crawly insights for Wired.co.uk's Bug Week, we got in touch with Daniella Martin, regular practitioner of entomophagy and host of the Girl Meets Bug edible insect blog.

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Martin first became interested in edible invertebrates in 2000 while studying pre-Columbian food as part of her degree in cultural anthropology. An argument between two schools of thought on Aztec cannibalism whetted Martin's appetite. "One side thought it was the lack of large game in the region that biologically drove the Aztecs to literally eat each other for protein," explains Martin. "The other side argued that despite the dearth of large game, the Aztecs got plenty of protein because they ate such a wide variety of animals, including, to a large degree, insects. It wound up being the favourite part of my thesis, and something about which I thought for years."

It wasn't until 2008 that Martin decided to pursue her interest in entomophagy. "I put up a blog, and filmed a couple of bug-cooking videos. Since there's a stereotype of women hating and fearing insects, I thought a video showing a woman not only cooking but also enjoying insects would offer another perspective. In many early and more primitive societies, women have actually been the gatherers and eaters of insects, even more so than the men."

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While having a passion for entomophagy, Martin's first experience of eating a bug (on purpose) wasn't as satisfying as she'd hoped. "It was a toasted grasshopper in Oaxaca, Mexico, called a chapulín," she recalls. "It was sort of fishy and sour, and I didn't actually like it very much. Luckily, just then my table was surrounded by Mayan children who'd come in off the street to eat the

chapulines right off my table. For me, it was an incredible moment of cultural immersion -- of history come to life.

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For them, it was just lunch."

Martin's blog provides prospective bug eaters with details on which bugs make the best snacks and recipes to get the most out of mealworms. It's Martin's hope that her site might educate people about the benefits of eating bugs. "It's actually just about the most normal and natural thing a person can do. Our species has been consuming insects throughout our evolution as primates. In many ways, we owe our very existence to the availability of insects during our development. They helped build our big brains, helped us develop our hunting abilities, and even helped spark our use of technology. Some of the very first hominid tools were used to hunt termites. "Our history with bugs goes back to before the beginning of recorded time. We tend to think of them as a nuisance, but we also depend on them, and always have. We're currently in a comparatively small cultural and chronological bubble that seems to think otherwise."

Martin's favourite ingredient is the wax moth caterpillar, or waxworm. A similar size and shape to a pine nut, the caterpillars are raised on a diet of bran and honey, resulting in a flavour somewhere between a nut and a mushroom. "My favourite way to eat them is toasted in the oven until golden and crispy, and then tossed with a pinch of salt, sugar, and wasabi powder. They are seriously delectable, and high in essential fatty acids."

Directions Set oven to 120C. Spread tinfoil over a baking sheet; lightly grease with butter or cooking spray. The waxworms don't really need this -- it's like adding butter to popcorn. Sprinkle waxworms out evenly across the pan.

Bake carefully, keeping an eye on them so as not to burn. Turn them every five minutes. When they begin to become golden, test them with a finger. They will begin to feel crispy and hollow.

At desired golden-ness, remove from oven and spoon into a pan on a medium heat. Toss with pinches of salt, sugar and wasabi powder, to taste.

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Directions For this particular recipe, I used an Emperor Scorpion, because of their low venom (this species is often kept as a pet).

However, if you can get your hands on a Desert Hairy scorpion, its exoskeleton is less thick and tough, so it might be ultimately tastier.

Freeze live scorpions overnight, or even for several days (although it is highly unlikely, some species of scorpion have been known to re-animate once thawed, so be aware).

Heat up the oil, ensuring it's deep enough to immerse the scorpion. Pour buttermilk and cornmeal into separate bowls, again, deep enough to immerse the scorpion.

Holding the scorpion with chopsticks or tongs, immerse it in the buttermilk. Let it soak for a bit, then transfer it to the cornmeal, and dredge thoroughly. Still holding it with tongs, dip it into the hot oil. Watch for the cornmeal coating to become toasty-looking, and remove the scorpion. If you plan to eat the stinger, at this point I would turn the scorpion tail-side down and dip just the stinger into the hot oil for 30-60 seconds. Heat is supposed to de-nature the proteins that compose the venom, but still, ingest it at your own risk. I don't, unless the scorpion is very tiny and I know the stinger has had the heck cooked out of it.

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I primarily eat drone larvae, which I get from beekeepers whom I've bee-friended. Unlike worker bees, the drones' main purpose is to mate with the queen: they do not participate in pollination, nursing larvae, or hive construction. They buzz from hive to hive to see if anyone needs any mating done, and there are generally an excess of them. It is for this reason that beekeepers often consider them a drain on colony resources. Many beekeepers have a special comb just for drones, which they sometimes use as bait for potential parasites.

Periodically, they remove this comb altogether, toss it into the freezer to kill any "extras" like mites, and then either throw it away or feed it to chickens, if they have any. If more people knew how delicious they are, I think the chickens might have to peck elsewhere.

Directions Sauté the bee larvae in the butter with a tiny bit of salt and a few drops of honey. Once the larvae become golden brown and crispy-looking, remove, and mix into enough egg white to cover and bind them into a mass. Then return them to the sauté butter, pressing them together into a patty.

Toast bread, and slice tomato. Spread mayonnaise on toasted bread when ready. When bee patty becomes firm, place it atop the lettuce and tomato on the sandwich. Enjoy!